Tearfully urge

含泪劝告 (hánlèi quàngào): tearfully urge

Grieving parents petition for the government to investigate why so many schools collapsed in the earthquake.

Yu Qiuyu with a copy of his inflammatory essay. (Ah Niu)

In June 2008, not long after central Sichuan Province suffered a devastating earthquake, literary figure Yu Qiuyu penned the essay “A Tearful Request for the Earthquake Survivors” (含泪劝告请愿灾民), in which he implored parents of the approximately 9,000 students who died in poorly constructed buildings to stop their protests against the government. He suggests that the parents were being used by those with “ulterior motives” and by “anti-Chinese forces.” Many netizens accused Yu of trying to protect the corrupt politicians and contractors whose greed and negligence had led to so many deaths. Some “tearfully urged Yu Qiuyu to jump in a river” (含泪劝告余秋雨去投江).

Angered by the criticism and the parodies of his essay, Yu wrote an reply to his critics, “You Are Not Permitted to Continue Insulting the Chinese People” (不准继续侮辱中国人).

Blogger Huang Lin has written exposition on “tearfully urge” [zh].

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